Topic > Nike

MasterCard’s decision to go to federal court last week and sue Nike for $5 million because it hired away several IT security people may force the courts to remap the boundaries of corporate recruiting.

Adidas is taking the smartwatch craze and running with it. The popular sports brand announced today that it is coming out with a smartwatch of its own, entering the increasingly competitive and crowded arena of wearable devices.

According to the study of 4,600 adults, 12 percent of us would want to purchase wearable technology, like glasses, on our face. That’s almost 22 million Americans. But more than twice as many — 28 percent — are interested in wrist-based wearable devices. That’s almost 50 million people.

GuestLiving in the technology and startup ecosystem, we are constantly bombarded with the latest hot new app, device, technology, or company. They get their 15 minutes of fame and then something newer, hotter, and latest-er comes along to replace them. But every now and then, something sticks around for a while.

GuestThere’s some real, solid progress at the intersection of two of today’s most disruptive business forces: gamification and sustainability. And for those of us eager to see the masses go green – whether to save the planet, or just save money – it’s good news.

The speculation is that Apple is designing a new iWatch that connects to iPhones, relays messages, and displays status alerts. But would the company that reinvented the computer, the phone, and the way we consume media be aiming so low?

Today’s entrepreneurs face a major branding challenge. The next generation of power purchasers is here — and they’re some of the most drastically different consumers to date. A group of young influencers in their mid-twenties to early thirties, members of the Millennial Generation have their fingers on the tech pulse and a thick wad of cash in their wallets.

Ben Sawyer is the co-founder of game-consulting firm Digitalmill and one of the pioneers in the field of Games for Health. He founded the Serious Games Initiative a decade ago as part of a U.S. government research effort into how games can accomplish useful ends beyond fun. In 2004, he also co-founded the Games for Health project, which seeks to use games to improve the state of health. The Games for Health project receives major funding from the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Striiv has taken the humble step counter and turned it into a “personal trainer in your pocket.” The Redwood City, Calif.-based company says that in the two months since its release, the company’s step-counting gadget has inspired people to walk a lot more frequently and farther.

FitBit, a maker of personal fitness-tracking gadgets, has raised $12 million in a third round of venture funding. The money comes investors that include Foundry Group and True Ventures, who are betting that fitness tracking will soon become a national obsession.

What fun is sweating through a tough workout if there’s nobody around to be impressed by it? Endomondo is a mobile fitness-tracking application that not only tracks your workouts, but also shares that information with like-minded fitness buffs for motivation.